Cake Slice Bakers December Cake: Cranberry Cake

I never got around to making November's cake. Between being sick and having a sick kid, Thanksgiving, and oodles of grading, it just didn't happen. And by the time I had time to do it, I had read some of the other bloggers' posts about it and decided it wasn't worth it.
But onto December...Cranberry Cake. I was glad to see that a holiday-ish recipe was selected for this month. I have never bought fresh cranberries before - only Craisins - so I was interested to bake with them. Also, while I've made streusel toppings with walnuts and pecans before, I've never made one with almonds.
This cake was simple to make. I had all of the ingredients in the pantry or fridge except for fresh cranberries. Since it's the holiday season, Wegmans had a plethora of cranberries. The cake smelled fantastic while baking, was beautiful when I took it out of the oven, and I was excited to give it a try. I'm sad to say I was a bit disappointed. The cranberries were a bit too tart for my taste. I also wasn't thrilled about the almond-to-cake ratio - fewer almonds would have sufficed. The cake itself was incredibly moist and delicious. We had a friend over for dinner last night, and all three of us agreed that with some changes, this cake could be a home run.
If I make it again, here's what I'd do. First, I'd use a different fruit - maybe blueberries, raspberries, or chopped strawberries. Second, I'd use walnuts or pecans in the streusel instead of the almonds.
I still have some holiday baking to do. I have a recipe for chocolate peppermint cheesecake bars that I want to try. And we made sugar cookie dough last week but have yet to make the cookies. I think that will be a nice Christmas Eve project, and then we'll have freshly homemade cookies to leave for Santa.

Merry Christmas!

Cranberry Cake
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Makes one 10-inch round cake (or a square cake if you have a square springform pan like I do!)

Streusel
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp light brown sugar

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries

Streusel
Heat the oven to 300F. Grease a 10inch round springform pan.
Combine the butter, almonds and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Work the mixture between your fingers to form large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cake
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until the mixture is lightened and increased in volume, about 5 minutes.
With the mixer on low speed, add the butter in a slow stream. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for another 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.
Gently but thoroughly fold in the flour mixture, half a cup at a time. Then stir in the cranberries. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1hour 10minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom onto the wire rack. Cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.